Apparatus for applying lubricant to wire



Feb. 3, 1959 w. H. JOHNS ET AL APPARATUS FOR APPLYING LUBRICANT TO WIRE Filed July 6, 1954 [men/M719:

W/u MM AK Jam 5 0/70 flere z/e 4 PEFEK APPARATUS FOR APPLYING LUBRICANT T0 WIRE William H. Johns, Gates Miils, and Arthur A. Perry,

Cleveland, Ohio, assignors to United States Steei Corporation, a corporation of New Jersey Application July 6, 1954, Serial No. 441,354 l-Claim. or. 205-19 The present invention relates generally to wire drawing more particularly to apparatus for'and a method of applying lubricant to rod or wire prior to its entrance into a drawing die.

Conventional wire drawing equipment includes a die box positioned on the drawbench adjacent to the draw block. The die box is made up of a die holder which houses the drawing die and a compartment for containing wire drawing lubricant through which the rod or wire being drawn passes and receives a coating of lubricant prior to its entrance into the wire drawing die. The rod or wire may be fed into the die box under tension, as when it is passed directly from a mechanical descaler, or loosely, as when it is paid off from a flipper or revolving reel to the die box. When rod or wire is paid off of a flipper or revolving reel into the die box, the path of travel is not in a straight line, but rather the traveling wire forms convolutions which continually out new paths through the lubricant contained in the die box. This condition provides positive lubrication of the rod or wire. When the rod or wire is fed to the die box under tension, it travels through the lubricant in a straight line to the wire drawing die. When the rod or wire is thus traveling in a straight line, it travels in an unchanging path through the lubricant quickly cutting a hole or channel therethrough and soon runs dry, particularly when a grease type lubricant is used. This results in the production of scratched or gouged wire which must be scrapped or re-drawn to a smaller diameter than was originally intended.

It is, accordingly, an object of this invention to provide apparatus for applying lubricant to rod or wire passing into a drawing die under tension whereby the lubricant is churned as the rod or wire is passed therethrough to insure the application of a uniform coating of lubricant on the rod or wire prior to its entrance into the drawing die.

As a corollary to the object immediately above, it is a further object of this invention to provide an apparatus for lubricating rod or wire which is simple in structure and which may be quickly and easily installed in a wire drawing die box.

These and other objects will become more apparent after referring to the following specification and attached drawings, in which:

Figure l is a vertical sectional view taken on the line II of Figure 2; and

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line IIII of Figure 1.

It is believed that the detailed description of the invention will be more readily understood if preceded by 6 the following general description of the apparatus and the functions performed thereby.

In general, the invention consists essentially of a frame adapted to be mounted in the lubricant compartment of a die box, a tube rotatably mounted within the frame so as to revolve around the path of the rod or Wire, and means for rotating the tube. The axis about which the 2,872,027 i ftfit ftir 1v 1 5 tube rotates is vertically and laterally offset from the axis of the rod or wire running through it so that when the tube is packed with lubricant and rotated about its own axis, a new portion of lubricant is always being brought into contact with the rod or wire. As the rod or wire travels toward the wire drawing die, it carries a portion of the lubricant along with it up to the die. As the rod or wire enters the die, the excess of this lubricant is wiped off causing a backward rolling action of the lubricant directly in front of the die. This rolling action continues as the lubricant is being carried toward the die by the rod or wire and acts as a further means for causing the lubricant to reach the entire surface of the rod or wire before it enters the die.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, reference numeral 2 indicates generally the apparatus of our invention which is shown installed in the lubricant compartment 4 of a conventional die box 6 by means of brackets 8 fitted on the sides of the box by set screws 10.

The apparatus 2 consists of an open cylinder or tube 12, which contains wire drawing lubricant, rotatably supported between a pair of spaced end plates 14 and 16 which are held together by means of four cross bars 18. Cross bars 18 are bolted to the corners of the end plates and, with the plates, form a frame for the tube 12. The end plates 14 and 16 serve as both supporting and bearing means for the tube. The frame formed by the end plates and the cross bars rotatably supports the tube 12 longitudinally of the entrance end 20 of a wire drawing die 22 contained in the die holder 24 of the die box 6 so that the rod or wire W being drawn passes through the tube on its way to the die.

A sprocket 26 is coaxially mounted on the tube 12 adjacent its one end. A gear motor 28, which has a sprocket 30 afiixed on its drive shaft 32, is mounted on the upper cross bars 18. Sprockets 26 and 30 are interconnected by means of an endless chain 34. Although we have shown gear motor means for rotating the tube 12, it will be noted that other suitable means, such as a manually driven shaft and sprocket or some other ex ternal driving means to cause rotation of the tube 12 may be provided.

Although the end of the tube remote from the die holder 24 is completely open, no difiiculty is encountered with lubricant spilling out of this end because, as explained above, the travel of the rod or wire through the tube tends to constantly move the lubricant toward the die holder. The end of the tube adjacent the die holder is also completely open but a sealing ring 36 is provided between the end plate 16 and the die holder to confine the lubricant and prevent it from being forced out of the tube.

As best shown in Figure 1, the axis of rotation of the tube 12 is offset from the center line of the wire drawing die 22 which causes the axis of the rod or wire W being drawn therethrough to be offset from the axis of rotation of the tube 12. The diameter of the tube 12 is preferably 15 to 20 times the diameter of the rod or wire passing through it. We have found that by maintaining this ratio between the diameter of the tube and the diameter of the rod or Wire, the tube may be packed approximately three-fourths full with drawing lubricant and the surface tension of the lubricant will cause it to rotate with the tube as a whole and not roll in the bottom of the tube as it is rotated. For optimum efficiency we have found it desirable to so position the frame 2 that the rod or wire passes through the rotating tube close to its inside periphery, as best shown in Figure 1. This position of the rod or wire in the rotating tube 12 creates a resistance to the rotating action of the lubricant which churns the lubricant and insures complete and uniform lubrication of the surface of the rod or wire.

We have obtained best results by rotating the tube 12 at relatively slow speeds, in the range of 5 to 20 R. P. M., while the rod or wire is being drawn therethrough; a

Although the problem of channeling is: most acute when lubricants such as grease, rich soap, or finely powdered dry mixtures are used, the use of our device is not restricted to drawing with any particular lubricant but may be used to advantage in any drawing operation where a drawing lubricant is used and the rod or wire passes through the lubricant under tension.

While one embodiment of our invention has been shown and described, it will be apparent that other adaptations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the following'claim.

We claim: I

A wire drawing apparatus comprising a frame, a die mounted on said frame at one side thereof, an open end cylinder adapted to contain wire-drawing lubricant rotatably mounted in said frame longitudinally of the entrance end of said die, means mounted on said frame and connected with said cylinder for rotating the latter, the mounting of said cylinder being such as to cause the axis of rotation thereof to be ofiset from the axis of said wire-drawing die so that wire passing through said cylinder and said die will be offset from the axis of said cylinder, and means on said frame confining the lubricant to said cylinder and the wire passing thru said die.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 26,459 Harsha Dec. 13, 1859 1,164,023 Smith Dec. 14, 1915 1,465,730 George et al Aug. 21, 1923 1,884,713 Jerabek Oct. 25, 1932 2,199,496 Johnson May 7, 1940 2,703,550 Bell Mar. 8, 1955 

